UNITED NATIONS INTOSAI EFFECTIVE PRACTICES OF COOPERATION BETWEEN SAIS AND CITIZENS TO ENHANCE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY Report on the 21 st UN/INTOSAI Symposium on Government Audit Vienna 13 to 15 July 2011
UNITED
NATIONS
INTOSAI
EFFECTIVE PRACTICES OF COOPERATION
BETWEEN SAIS AND CITIZENS TO ENHANCE
PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
Report on the 21st UN/INTOSAI Symposium
on Government Audit
Vienna
13 to 15 July 2011
UNITED
NATIONS INTOSAI
Division for Public Administration and Development Management
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
EFFECTIVE PRACTICES OF COOPERATION
BETWEEN SAIS AND CITIZENS TO ENHANCE
PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
Report on the 21st UN/INTOSAI Symposium
on Government Audit
Vienna
13 to 15 July 2011
CONTENTS
1. Executive summary.............................................................................................. 1
2. Opening of the Symposium - Overview ............................................................... 3
3. Deliberations of the Symposium .......................................................................... 5
3.1 Introduction................................................................................................. 5
3.2 Questionnaire on the interaction between SAIs and the citizens:
Survey ........................................................................................................ 6
3.3 Communication between SAIs and citizens ................................................. 6
3.4 Citizen participation in government auditing ............................................... 9
3.5 Values and benefits of cooperation between SAIs, parliaments and
citizens ..................................................................................................... 11
3.6 Summary................................................................................................... 13
4. Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................... 16
5. Evaluation.......................................................................................................... 22
Attachments................................................................................................................ 24
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Organised by the United Nations (UN) in cooperation with the International Organisation
of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the Symposium “Effective Practices of
Cooperation between Supreme Audit Institutions and Citizens To Enhance Public
Accountability” was held from 13-15 July 2011 in Vienna, Austria. It was the
21st interregional event jointly organised by the United Nations Division for Public
Administration and Development Management (DPADM), Department of Economic and
Social Affairs (DESA) and INTOSAI (21st UN/INTOSAI Symposium).
The principal aim of the Symposium was to identify successful practices of cooperation
between SAIs and citizens and to highlight innovative new approaches to such
cooperation, in order to strengthen government audit so that it can commit itself more
strongly to the benefit of the citizens
About 140 representatives of 66 supreme audit institutions (SAIs) from industrialised and
developing countries participated together with high-ranking representatives of the United
Nations, especially UN Under-Secretary Generals Sha Zukang from the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and Carman Lapointe from the UN Internal
Oversight Service (UNOIOS), who attended for the first time at a UN/INTOSAI
Symposium.
Speakers were delegated by INTOSAI, UNDESA, the UN Committee of Experts on Public
Administration (UNCEPA), the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the International Budget
Partnership (IBP) and the International Interparliamentary Union (IPU) as well as by the
SAIs of Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Guatemala, India,
Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, the Russian
Federation, South Africa, the United States, and Venezuela. The President of INTOSAI
and Auditor General of South Africa, Terence Nombembe, acted as technical chair.
The Symposium addressed the following main topics:
1. Communication between SAIs and citizens;
2. Forms of citizen participation in government auditing;
3. Values and benefits of cooperation between SAIs, parliaments and citizens.
The lively discussions and the conclusions reached demonstrated the tremendous interest
in information exchange on citizen participation and cooperation in external public
auditing.
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The topic was introduced by two opening speeches of the INTOSAI Secretary General
Dr. Josef Moser and UN Under-Secretary General Sha Zukang, which are summarized in
Section “2. OPENING OF THE SYMPOSIUM - OVERVIEW”.
Participants then discussed at length many interesting examples that were presented at the
Symposium to illustrate the effective cooperation between SAIs and citizens in terms of
mutual communication in general and, more specifically, in relation to specific audit
activities of SAIs. Section “3. DELIBERATIONS OF THE SYMPOSIUM” draws together all
those inputs from the technical presentations and papers, as well as from the discussion and
debate during the plenary sessions.
Section “4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS”sets out the conclusions reached by
symposium participants, drawing on the papers and presentations and the discussions.
Above all, the participants recommended to continue the efforts for the adoption of a
resolution of the UN General Assembly supporting the principles of INTOSAI’s
Declarations of Lima and Mexico, to apply the INTOSAI Framework on Communicating
and Promoting the Value and Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions, to develop close on-
going relationships between SAIs and Parliaments, to build good relationships between
supreme audit institutions and their stakeholders and strengthen the bonds with citizens,
social organizations, national authorities and analysts, and to acknowledge existing models
of citizen participation. INTOSAI was encouraged to collaborate with the International
Budget Partnership (IBP) and other organizations including the joint UN/INTOSAI
platform and to consider participating in the Steward’s Committee of the Multi
Stakeholder Initiative coordinated by the IBP and to promote citizen participation by
developing mechanisms to receive and monitor complaints for non compliance and
maladministration and suggestions for improved public administration.
A survey among participants, that is outlined in detail in Section “5.
EVALUATION”,revealed that the participants rated the Symposium as relevant and
successful.
Listings of all speeches and technical presentations, which are available electronically, and
listings of Symposium participants are provided in the concluding “ATTACHMENTS”.
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2. OPENING OF THE SYMPOSIUM - OVERVIEW
The Secretary General of INTOSAI and President of the Austrian Court of Audit,
Dr. Josef Moser, welcomed the participants, in particular the UN delegations headed by
Under-Secretary General Sha Zukang, the President of INTOSAI Terence Nombembe, the
Austrian State Secretary Wolfgang Waldner, the Secretary General of the
Interparliamentary Union Anders B. Johnsson and the numerous lecturers who were
contributing to the Symposium.
He emphasized that the large number of participants and especially the presence of UN
Under-Secretary Sha Zukang, who participated for the very first time at a UN/INTOSAI
Symposium, proved the considerable interest in the subject of cooperation between
supreme audit institutions and citizens and the great value of the joint UN/INTOSAI
events.
Dr. Moser then gave the floor to the Austrian State Secretary Wolfgang Waldner who
welcomed the participants on behalf of the Austrian Republic.
In his opening speech Secretary General Josef Moser outlined that as a cornerstone of
every democracy, SAIs played a fundamental role in upholding the principles of good
governance, transparency and accountability, in particular in promoting public sector
efficiency.
To achieve that goal, SAIs must heed citizens’ concerns in their work and communicate
this accordingly. Moreover, audits and audit findings must be communicated to the public
so that ultimately the citizens are empowered to demand the implementation of audit
findings. To be able to do so, citizens must actively participate in the political debate and
contribute to the implementation of audit findings. It is of critical importance to provide
the citizens with an adequate platform for such commitment. When citizens understand
they are not powerless, but can play an active role and defend their interests, they will be
willing to fully commit themselves.
As Dr. Moser emphasized, the efforts deployed by INTOSAI to promote SAI
independence by way of a UN resolution clearly showed how much significance INTOSAI
had accorded to enhanced cooperation of SAIs and the citizens in recent years. SAIs could
deliver unbiased, objective and reliable reports only if they enjoyed independence as a
fundamental prerequisite for trust-based cooperation with the citizens.
Sha Zukang followed by also commending the long history of collaboration between the
United Nations and INTOSAI, which had yielded concrete benefits for all UN Member
States by enhancing public awareness of the role and contributions of supreme audit
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institutions and by disseminating the message of clean government, accountability and
anti-corruption. He stated that corruption continued to be endemic in many countries,
developed and developing. Not only morally reprehensible, corruption affected overall
economic performance, damaged people’s trust in public institutions and threatened the
Rule of Law.From a development perspective, corruption undermined the allocation of
resources, led to waste and added to business costs. It weakened the institutional
foundation on which sustainable development depended. It was obvious that good
governance had to start and end with the fight against corruption.
With regard to INTOSAI the USG explained that the UN was ready to broaden and deepen
their collaboration with INTOSAI and its members, especially in the area of corruption and
needed INTOSAI’s expertise in audit and knowledge of accountability.
Sha Zukang then specifically referred to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development,
also known as Rio+20 in 2012, which would focus on two themes: a green economy in the
context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and the institutional
framework for sustainable development.
As good governance at all levels was essential for sustainable development, there was a lot
that INTOSAI and its members could do in support of good governance for sustainable
development. In his capacity as the Secretary-General of Rio+20, the USG invited
INTOSAI to put forward proposals for action and solutions, especially in view of the fact
that Member States were looking at various options to strengthen institutions for
sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels.
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3. DELIBERATIONS OF THE SYMPOSIUM
3.1 Introduction
The theme of the Symposium “Effective practices of cooperation between SAIs and
citizens to enhance public accountability” reflected a growing recognition of the need to
deepen the participatory processes in public administration matters. The systematic
exchange of information on shared concerns about public sector accountability between
citizens - and their civil society and private sector organizations - and SAIs, helps ensure
that all aspects of government are held accountable to the people. There was general
agreement that informed public discussions, inclusive deliberations and active engagement,
encompassing government and non-government actors, greatly enhanced the economy,
efficiency and effectiveness, but also the equity, legality and ethics of government
operations.
With their responsibilities for independence, professionalism and reliability, SAIs are
uniquely positioned to serve the public by promoting effective public governance,
increasing the efficiency of public administration, improving development outcomes,
fighting corruption and promoting trust in government. In terms of public scrutiny, SAIs
have a very important and relevant role to play. By making their reports public, they make
government actions transparent for the citizens; and, by being responsive to the legitimate
concerns of citizens, civil society and the private sector, they help to build public
confidence.
The overall topic of the Symposium was dealt with in three sub-themes:
• Subtheme 1 (Theme chair: O. Faqeeh, SAI Saudi Arabia) focussed on
communication between SAIs and citizens to improve public accountability and
explored the best ways to raise the awareness of citizens for the work of SAIs. It also
analysed how SAIs could best communicate audit-specific information to the
citizens, and what channels were needed to receive feedback information from
citizens and include it in their future audit work.
• Subtheme 2 (Theme chair: UN Under-Secretary General Sha Zukang, UNDESA)
investigated the different forms of citizen participation in government auditing, in
particular effective ways and the necessary conditions to include citizens in audit
processes.
• Subtheme 3 (Theme chair: T. Nombembe, SAI South Africa) discussed the values
and benefits of cooperation between SAIs, parliaments and citizens from their
respective perspectives.
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T. Nombembe (SAI South Africa) also acted as technical chair of the meeting.
3.2 Questionnaire on the interaction between SAIs and the
citizens: Survey
The technical programme as such was based on a questionnaire on the engagement of
citizens by SAIs, which had been sent out to all INTOSAI member institutions in advance
of the Symposium.
The survey revealed that a large number of SAIs publish booklets, books abs videosabout
their activities to raise awareness among citizens about the work they accomplish, or make
available learning materials and presentations on their tasks and activities to schools and
universities. Some use social networks like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, to present their
work and the values and benefits of SAIs to the citizens.
Almost all SAIs use their websites to communicate their audit results and audit-specific
information to the public. They pursue an active media policy and cooperate closely with
the media to inform the public about their audit findings and recommendations.
Some SAIs have set up complaints mechanisms to promote citizen involvement in
government audit, so that citizen concerns can be included in the planning of audit
programmes and in the audit process. With most SAIs, citizens have an opportunity to
submit their concerns either by telephone or in writing, sometimes even during public
consultation hours. Some of these complaints are then dealt with by designated
departments and may in some countries give rise to ad-hoc audits.
Many SAIs have institutionalised focus groups or conduct citizens’ surveys or expert talks
to encourage the involvement of citizens and to gain relevant information and know-how
from third parties before an audit and take it up in their work.
3.3 Communication between SAIs and citizens
Papers on this subtheme were delivered by J. Jezierski (SAI Poland) on the communication
between SAI and citizens to improve public accountability, A. El Midaoui (SAI Morocco)
on raising citizens’ awareness of the work of SAIs, and S. Stepashin (SAI Russian
Federation) on the communication of audit-specific information to citizens.Moreover, A.
Mukhopadhyay (SAI India) described specific socialaudit approaches in India, and M.
Edwards (UNCEPA) provided valuable background information on the concepts of shared
accountability in service delivery. Country studies of the SAIs of Brazil, Colombia,
Indonesia and the Netherlands presented illustrative examples of enhancing
communication and cooperation of SAIs and citizens, by developing and implementing
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public relations and communication strategies and making use of social media, which are
becoming increasingly important in communication with citizens and their involvement in
public affairs.
There was general agreement that auditing was a public service and that SAIs needed to
communicate effectively with citizens to enhance public accountability.After all, citizens
asthe ultimate beneficiaries of a better use of public funds are the most important
stakeholders ofsupreme audit institutions. Nevertheless, they are in many cases the
oneswho areleast aware of the benefits of government auditing and accountability. Surveys
have shown that a considerable part of the population understandslittle of the work of
SAIs. It is therefore necessary that SAIs design appropriate means to raise awareness of the
importance of government auditing among the general public.
It must be understood that even though the outcomes of the auditing process are, mainly, of
a technical nature, they reflect the real capacity of a government to meet the citizens’
needs, and therefore supply accurate and timely information to the users on how their
money has been spent. By providing independent, non-partisan, fact-based reports written
in a way that is accessible to the general public, SAIs help to supply citizens with
information they can use to enhance their knowledge about government spending,
andperform their supervisory role, enabling them to follow up on audit findings and
enforce the implementation of the SAI’s recommendations.
SAIs, whose main attribute is to satisfy both the State and the citizens, must build a
relationship of trust with citizens and efficiently respond to their concerns. SAIs should
adopt an active communication strategy to get the best coverage of their work and
highlight their main conclusions. Government auditing entities should always bear in mind
that they are writing not only for a specialized minority, but for the nation as a whole. To
be of value for the citizens, audit reports must be topical and easily accessible, as well as
written in clear and easily understandable language.
An effective media policy is paramount in getting the SAI’s messages across to the public.
While they can and should not interfere with the freedom of reporting, SAIs could indeed
help reporters by providing the technical skills required to understand the SAI’s auditing
practices, the real scope of decisions as well as the legal mandate and constraints of the
auditing practice. Better informed analystscan obtain more evenly balanced and objective
views of the facts and therefore can produce more valuable information for the public.
In addition to interviews with print, radio, online, and television media, SAIs can also raise
the profile of their missions and work through on-going outreach to the public, e.g. by
talking about issues in their areas of expertise in public forums, conferences or universities,
– 8 –
and by replying to the letters and appeals of citizens, as well as in direct contacts with the
citizens, or through joint actions with NGOs and civil society organizations,
Proper dissemination of information requires a diversification of communication
media.Accordingly, SAIs should resort to using the new information and communication
technologies to make information about their activities and operations more accessible to
the public on a wider scale. Some SAIs, for instance, have produced videos and audio
podcasts related to their work for distribution through YouTube, iTunes, and other online
platforms to help keep citizens up-to-date of the SAI’s reports and audit activities. Indeed,
most SAIs use Internet sites in order to conveniently, efficiently and economically convey
their message to the public. But, evidently, the access of each country’s public to the
Internet resources still varies enormously, and so does the clarity of the contents of these
websites.
Since communication with citizens is a two-way process, SAIs also need to create effective
channels for communicationwith citizens to enable SAIs to receive complaints so as to
select agencies or programmes to be audited and to open up the audits to suggestions,
proposals and comments.
The feedback that SAIs getfrom the public on their audit findingsis in fact both a gift and a
challenge as it inspires SAIs to focus their future audits on areas that citizens are concerned
with greatly.
Reacting to citizens’ complaints in the course of the respective audit process may give the
SAI an indication of suspected fraud and high-risk areas, and can make the audits of SAIs
more responsive. Special measures that can be taken by the SAI in this respect include
citizen interviews as well as the instalment of mailboxes or telephone hotlines for receiving
complaints.
M. Edwards from the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) raised
the issue of adapting the traditional hierarchical accountability model or framework to
environments where boundaries between public and private sectors were blurring and
where many players are involved in delivering services to meet citizens’ needs. In the
context of involving citizens to ensure governments are held to account in delivering
services, she pointed out that there was also the need to balance the lengthy time it may
take to engage with citizens and demands to get action on the ground as quickly as
possible. The important challenge is to reshape governance processes so that the inevitable
tensions can be minimized and managed.
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3.4 Citizen participation in government auditing
By involving them in the audit process, SAIs enable citizens to comprehend the budget
process and related economic outcomes. It empowers themto hold the government to
account and protect their interests.
Citizens may be involved in different ways and various stages of the audit process.In this
respect, SAIscan play an important role in the mechanism of promoting national
governance.
The establishment of effective cooperation channels with citizens is vital, especially
considering the SAIs’ involvement in the fight against corruption. SAIs should create an
enabling environment for the involvement of citizens in the audit process by publishing
their annual audit plans, soliciting the opinions of the citizens and members of Parliament
through the official SAI website or public surveys before deciding on specific audit
assignments.
Dasheng Dong (SAI of China) reported that citizens were extremely concerned with the
outcome of the Leaders’ Accountability Audit, a special audit of the performance of
accountabilities of elected leaders in China. The involvement of the citizens promoted the
effective work of government officials. Both the effectiveness of the audit and the level of
governance had been greatly improved.
The participants agreed that the inclusion of citizens in the audit process must be based on
relevant legal stipulations and required pertinent audit standards and the issuance of clear
practice guidelines. It also required multi-type but relatively fixed channels for effective
communication to disseminate the audit-specific knowledge among the citizens for
ensuring proper understanding and use. Moreover it necessitated some part of awareness
raising among auditors to make them understand the benefits of including citizens in the
audit process and improve their skills and competences in relating to citizens.
If SAIs succeed in installingsuitable mechanisms to receive citizen complaints, citizens,
who identify improper activities or weaknesses in programs that warrant scrutiny, can alert
the SAI early enough to take action. Several SAIs, including the SAI of Mexico, have
created mechanisms (e.g. hotlines, mailboxes) for receiving anonymous information from
the public regarding alleged irregularities and take these inputs into account in their annual
audit planning programmes. Patricia Dalton from the General Accountability Office
(GAO) of the United States presented themechanisms introduced by her SAI. She
mentioned especially the so-called FraudNet programme, which is a vital part of the
Forensic Audits and Investigative Service Team at GAO and enables citizens to report
allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement of federal funds anonymously
– 10 –
through a variety of mechanisms, including mail, e-mail, a Web page, toll-free phone
number, and fax. Here too, an active information policy is needed to explain the purpose
and use of FraudNet to citizens.
The SAI could also gather information through specialised forums, advisory boards, and
panels, as well as by periodic scans of international and national issues that affect the
political and social environment in which SAIs work. The various lessons learned across
the national and international audit community should be taken up and considered in the
SAI’s strategic and annual work planning. Another very concrete method, that SAIs can
employ to obtain direct citizen involvement in the their audit work concerns the use of
citizen focus groups and surveys.
In fact, as the participants reflected, democracy could never be achieved solely through
providing citizens with the right to vote and to choose their government, but had also to
give them the right to obtain information and ask for accounts. A restrictive system of
accountability, where public audit is misconstrued as an institutional preserve of SAIs and
the prevalent channel of reporting by SAIs is only to a hierarchy of officialdom and
legislatures, leaving direct participation by ordinary citizens or even civil society
institutions out of the framework, was clearly not acceptable in a flattened out post-modern
world.
In this context, A. Mukhopadhyay (SAI of India) talked about the nascent social movement
for social audit in India since 1996 to enhance public accountability. Defining transparency
not merely as visibility of whatever might be chosen to be displayed by the State, but more
substantively, as the process of seeking correspondence between the registers of
experiences/memories in the minds of people and the registers of the State, the movement
succeeded in wresting the Indian Right to Information Act from the legislature in 2005. It
was now widely recognised that the enthusiasm with which individual citizens had been
using this right had heralded a transformation in civil administration.
Social audit as a practice had been welcomed by citizens (especially the poor) as the
appropriate means of securing the accountability of officials and politicians alike due to its
demonstrated ability to gather people from all walks of life – conducted on media
platforms or in local assemblies – to engage in piecing together evidence of
irregularity/corruption, whether in high-tech privatisation projects or on delivery of simple
social services, depending on the matter at hand.
Consultations with advisory groups and professional organizations made up of citizens
from all disciplinesare another way of involving citizens in the SAI’s audit planning and
audit work. These groups can advise on topics such as strategic planning, auditing
standards, and other audit-related issues. Furthermore, the SAI can also directly involve
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citizens through the use of focus groups and surveys to provide information in some of the
SAI’s audit work, when appropriate.
By involving parties with a solid knowledge of the subject a higher level of quality
assurance is obtained. Focus groups provide a good opportunity of drawing on expert
knowledge in the audit process. Focus groups, which involve auditeesas well as relevant
citizens and experts, are particularly useful in the analysis and finalization phase of an
audit, as all relevant parties are gathered at the same time and overhear comments from
one another. Moreover, conducting the focus group meetings provides an assurance early
in the audit process that the right issues are included in the audit. Last, but not least, focus
groupsprovide an additional level of quality assurance, especially in regard to assuring the
adequacy and completeness of an audit, including recommendations
There was an intense debate on the feasibility of allowing the citizenry and the Non
Governmental Organizations (NGOs) a more active role in the audit process. Given the
mutual interest in improving the overall institutional framework for the exercise of
accountability (transparency policies, access to information legislation and mechanisms),
and the strengthening of enforcing mechanisms against wrongdoers, participants believed
that civil society could become an important ally if SAIs confront illegal encroachments
from other state agencies that could jeopardize their integrity and autonomy.By accessing
certain types of information that social organizations are better positioned to obtain, the
participation of CSOs could improve the oversight capacities of SAIs and, moreover, the
greater social knowledge and legitimacy of SAIs could translate in enhanced public
support of their mission.
3.5 Values and benefits of cooperation between SAIs, parliaments
and citizens
The work of SAIs is greatly enhanced by support from the citizens, who ensure that their
findings and recommendations are followed up and lead to corrective action. Forging
closer ties between SAIs and citizens in the budget process seems to be a logical
consequence. SAIs can interact with citizens directly or through partners and channels such
as parliaments, media and CSOs, which share the objective of holding government to
account on behalf of citizens. The advantages and disadvantages of the various form of
interaction were analysed from different perspectives.
Anders B. Johnsson (Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Union, IPU) presented
the viewpoint of Parliaments, M. Oyhanarte (United Nations Committee of Experts on
Public Administration UNCEPA) the perceptions of the citizens, and Kyuhu Jo (SAI
Korea) and Terence Nombembe (SAI South Africa) investigated the values, benefits and
challenges of such cooperation for supreme audit institutions. R. Acosta Zuniga (SAI
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Costa Rica), V. Von Stemann (SAI Denmark), C. Faggioni (SAI Ecuador) and A.
Gonzalez (SAI Venezuela) shared their experiences of successful approaches, strategies,
tools and good practices of citizen engagement. E. Peruzzotti (UNDESA) and R. Villarreal
(head DPADM, UNDESA) presented an analysis of the interaction between SAIs and
citizens in the context of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and, finally, D. Gottwald (UNDOC) informed about the latest developments in
relation to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
Anders B. Johnsson (IPU), advocated a close working relationship between supreme audit
institutions and Parliaments, saying that the resulting greater transparency and
accountability should have a positive influence on public trust in government and
strengthen democracy.
There was general agreement that parliaments and SAIs needed to develop close and on-
going relationships and that INTOSAI and the IPU had a major role to play in that process.
It was re-emphasized that SAIs and parliaments were not the only stakeholders.Involving
the media and civil society at large was also essential. Civil society could provide
parliament – as well as SAIs - with the information and expertise they needed to ensure
effective monitoring of budgetary performance by the government.
M. Oyhanarte (UNCEPA) pointed out that accountability and access to information were
two sides of the same coin, bothenhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of public
policies management. She argued that the access to public information was a public good
and that transparency needed to be part of the daily processes in public administration.
There was general agreement among all participants that the value and benefits of citizen
engagement for development was becoming more widely recognised. The perspective and
insight of strongly engaged citizens and their representatives add value to the audit work at
all stages. Cooperation with citizens serves to channel public audit efforts and thereby
enhances the effectiveness of the control and oversight functions contained in the SAI’s
mandate. Interactions with citizens,as the recipients of government services, create
awareness of stakeholders’ expectations and enable SAIs to timeously include these into
their strategic, business and audit plans, as appropriate. SAIs areput in a position to
examine matters that would otherwise remain completely out of the realm of public
perceptions. The role that civil society can play in following up on the implementation of
audit recommendations can moreover create pressure for the executive to implement the
recommendations of the SAIs.
Focus groups are a good instrument to obtain inputs from citizens for specific audits,
especially performance audits. The inputs from professional bodies and reputable pressure
groups also add value to the audit process.
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CSOs can play an important role in the institutional strengthening of their respective
countries by monitoring the government through the external audits conducted by SAIs at
government agencies and of government programmes. CSOs can also make
recommendations on the selection of audits to be undertaken by SAIs based on the
valuable information CSOs obtain from the work they perform. By playing the role of a
credible "bridge" between the SAI and the citizens, CSO representatives can assist by
facilitating more effective discussions with the citizens they represent during a number of
interactions such as the communication of the audit findings.
There exist both direct and indirect effects from the cooperation with citizens. The direct
effects include the elimination of blind spots in public auditing, greater assurance that the
public sector meets the citizens’ demandsand abetter identification of budget waste and
mismanagement. Indirectly, citizen participation serves to enhance public trust in
government and promotesthe values and benefits of external government auditing.
Cooperation with citizens however also entails a number of risks and challenges for the
SAI. In particular, inappropriate influence may impair the SAI’s independence and might
have a negative impact on the SAI’s reputation. SAIs should therefore carefully ascertain
that they only partner with those institutions and through such channels that will not
tarnish their reputation and standing. Also, interactions with citizensmay require additional
skills or requirea new code of conduct for SAIs.In some respects there exists the dangerof
duplications with the activities of Ombudsmen. Sometimes, requests for investigations
received from citizens may not fall within the scope of the SAI’s mandate, and in some
countries the legal framework of SAIs may prevent or limit cooperation with citizens.
3.6 Summary
As societies become more diverse and complex, traditional functions of SAIs evolve in
innovative ways to improve effective accountability of the public sector to all citizens, and
in equitable terms, to those for which public sector accountability may bring better
possibilities for economic, social and human development.
New public management and the transformations it has brought with it in the wake of the
recent financial, economic and budget crises, have demonstrated that SAIs’ audits are only
one side of the coin. There was general agreement that cooperation between citizens and
SAIs benefitted all, as citizens and SAIs share the same objectives about increasing the
efficiency of government, securing public governance, enhancing transparency, warranting
accountability of the public sector and, ultimately, foster development for all, contributing
to the achievement of the MDGs. SAIs are aware that they should explore and possibly
undertake partnerships and institutionalize the engagement of citizens and their civil
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society and private sector organizations to assure that public administration is effective,
efficient, responsive and adheres fully to the principles of legality.
SAIs should adopt a multidisciplinary approach to attain a coherent and diversified
communication policy. Theymust clearly communicate to the citizens what they do and
what added value they generate for their states and societies in order to increase public
knowledge about the accountability role played by SAIs. They should facilitate the access
of citizens to the information generated by the SAIs, which needs to be relevant and
trustworthy and in a comprehensive format which is easily accessible to the public. Such
communication with the citizens is a two-way process, as citizens too generate valuable
information as input for the SAIs’ audits, enhancing thereby the accountability role of
SAIs.
It is very important that SAIs are deemed credible before they interact with citizens to
build public confidence. Although challenges have also been identified, most of them can
be overcome by a careful selection of institutions with whom to partner when interacting
with citizens, and by proper planning and implementing measures to address those
challenges. It was also made clear that a “one-size-fits-all solution” is inappropriate and
SAIs would need to assess the maturity of their own environments to determine the nature
and extent of their interactions with citizens. Ultimately, SAIs can learn from each other’s
experiences, reaffirming the relevance of the INTOSAI motto “Experientia mutua omnibus
prodest” – mutual experience benefits all.
As the outcome of their deliberations the Symposium participants unanimously adopted
recommendations and conclusions to enhance public accountability through cooperation
between SAIs and citizen. These included the following specific practical proposals:
1. Continue the efforts to adopt a UN General Assembly resolution supporting the
principles laid down in the Declarations of Lima and Mexico and recognizing the
work of INTOSAI;
2. Apply the INTOSAI Framework on Communicating and Promoting the Value and
Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions to enhance the credibility of SAIs and
improve the lives of citizens;
3. Increase public knowledge of the work and role of SAIs and their added value
through on-going media coverage, public campaigns, use of social media, and other
awareness-raising activities in the local languages, as appropriate;
4. Develop and implement public relations and communication strategies for active,
accurate, and transparent communication with the media;
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5. Support budget transparency systems and actions that will inform citizens about the
entire budget process, including amendments to and the execution of the budget;
6. Promote citizen participation by developing mechanisms to receive and monitor
complaints for noncompliance and misuse, as well as suggestions for improved
public administration;
7. Commit to contributing to the Rio plus 20 Summit on Climate Change in June 2012,
at the UN’s invitation, through appropriate INTOSAI mechanisms;
8. Establish a joint agenda with UN DESA to build capacities in all countries, including
partnership between developed and developing countries and aiming to improve the
audit process, transparency, and the eradication of corruption;
9. Contribute specifically to the prevention of corruption in accordance with the United
Nations Convention against Corruption;
10. Encourage sharing of information and experiences among SAIs to promote efficient
and effective interactions with citizens;
11. Develop INTOSAI guidance on cooperation with citizens through the work program
of the INTOSAI Working Group on the Value and Benefits of SAIs to address the
opportunities as well as the risks associated with communication with citizens.
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4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Emphasizing the importance of effective cooperation between supreme audit institutions
and citizens to safeguard and enhance transparency, accountability and good governance
within government;
Confirming that effective co-operation is only possible through effective communication;
Considering that supreme audit institutions are in a unique position to serve the public by
contributing towards ensuring that public funds are spent economically, efficiently and
effectively and are properly accounted for;
Knowing that the efforts of supreme audit institutions and strongly engaged Parliaments
supplement each other in increasing the efficiency of public administration, enhancing
effective public governance and promoting trust in government;
Welcoming the statement by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) that it will enhance its
work to build greater capacity in parliaments to exercise oversight and carry out their
budgetary and audit functions;
Emphasizing the essential preconditions laid down in the Lima and Mexico Declarations
for the work of supreme audit institutions;
Welcoming the resolution of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), that notes
with appreciation the work of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
in promoting greater transparency, accountability and efficient and effective receipt and
use of public resources for the benefit of citizens. Furthermore, that the ECOSOC
resolution takes note with appreciation of the Lima Declaration’s Guidelines on Auditing
Precepts of 1977 and the Mexico Declaration on Supreme Audit Institutions’ Independence
of 2007, which set out the principles of independence in government auditing, and
encourage the wide dissemination of these principles;
Supporting the view of the Committee of Experts in Public Administration (CEPA) that
SAIs could influence citizen empowerment by building active citizenship and educating
citizens on their rights to access quality public information and exact accountability from
government processes, altogether enabling empowered citizens to enhance democracy;
Welcoming the role of SAIs in the audit process and its contribution to the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
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Noting that audit is not an end in itself but an indispensable part of a regulatory system
whose aim is to reveal deviations from accepted standards and violations of and to promote
compliance to the principles of legality, efficiency, effectiveness and economy of financial
management;
Knowing that supreme audit institutions should play an important role in promoting
national governance;
Acknowledging the importance of citizen contribution/engagement/participation in the
budgeting process and the role of respective organizations to promote this objective, such
as the International Budget Partnership (IBP);
Recalling the continuous combined efforts of the UN and INTOSAI to enhance the
cooperation between supreme audit institutions and citizens, especially the 2007
Symposium on the value and benefits of government audit in a globalized environment and
the 2009 Symposium on INTOSAI: Active partner in the international anti-corruption
network; ensuring transparency to promote social security and poverty reduction;
Valuing the important work of the INTOSAI Working Group on the Value and Benefits of
Supreme Audit Institutions and the mandate entrusted to it by the INTOSAI community as
stipulated in the Johannesburg Accords of the XX INCOSAI, 2010;
Emphasizing that supreme audit institutions strive to be recognized as being independent
model institutions if they want to make a difference in the lives of citizens, including
generating added value for the state and society at large by being responsive to the
demands for accountability and to eradicate corruption expressed by key stakeholders,
especially citizens;
Recognizing that supreme audit institutions need to safeguard their own reputations by
only collaborating with those organizations representing citizens in legitimate, honest and
inclusive ways and through channels that will secure the good standing of the supreme
audit institution;
Benefits of cooperation between supreme audit institutions and citizens
to enhance public accountability
Responding to the increased interest of citizens and other stakeholders in public
accountability and transparency and the necessity to align public services with citizens'
needs;
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Aware that citizens have become natural partners of supreme audit institutions in terms of
enhancing transparency in the public accountability process;
Aware that the United Nations have identified complementary traditional and new
participatory approaches to the provision of public services as a useful course of action for
countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
Awarethat in the development of effective practices of cooperation between supreme audit
institutions and citizens, the role of supreme audit institutions that makes a difference in
the lives of citizens can be further advanced without jeopardizing their traditional roles and
compromising institutional independence;
Convinced that strong partnerships between supreme audit institutions and citizens
significantly advance economic and sustainable development, improved service delivery
and the fight against corruption;
Knowing that citizens as end users of government activities and services are a rich source
of knowledge and information about government performance and operations;
Aware that a continuous dialogue with citizens raises citizens’ awareness of the work of
supreme audit institutions and strengthens public confidence in public administration;
Knowing that effective communication of supreme audit institutions with citizens
stimulates their interest and involvement in public affairs, and that civil society
organizations can help citizens to be vigilant about the adequacy of public service delivery;
Aware that communication of and reporting on irregularities and potential risks improves
public accountability and helps society to make informed decisions;
Noting that awareness of citizens’ expectations enables supreme audit institutions to
include these in their strategic, action and audit plans as appropriate, which also could
enhance the credibility of their reports;
Awarethat the audit-specific and credible information that citizens channel to supreme
audit institutions is bound to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of audit activities;
Awarethat social audits are a good practice to engage citizens, as the recipient of
government services, in piecing together evidence of irregularity and corruption and
demanding corrective action;
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Awarethat several supreme audit institutions in both developed and developing countries
already engage citizens in their various strategies and processes as well as that some
INTOSAI Regional Working Groups already have introduced citizen participation as an
accountability principle;
Recommendations to enhance public accountability through cooperation
between supreme audit institutions and citizens
The participants of the 21st UN/INTOSAI Symposium recommend the following
Apply the principles set out in the Lima and Mexico Declarations, especially the principle
of independence of supreme audit institutions as model organisations,
a. to ensure that audit findings are relevant, clear and concise and therefore easily
understood by the general public;
b. to table audit reports, findings and recommendations to Parliament and make them
available to any other stakeholders;
c. to disseminate and explain audit reports directly to the citizens through innovative
and effective means, such as websites, media interviews, press releases and
conferences;
d. to make audit products and services of supreme audit institutions easily accessible on
websites, in libraries, upon request or other relevant means;
Continue the efforts for the adoption of a Resolution of the UN General Assembly
supporting the principles laid down in the Declarations of Lima and Mexico and
recognizing the work of INTOSAI;
Apply the INTOSAI Framework on Communicating and Promoting the Value and
Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions as a basis for enhancing the credibility of supreme
audit institutions and with a view to improving the lives of citizens;
Increase public knowledge of the work and role of supreme audit institutions as well as
their added value for the state and the public at large through continuous media coverage,
public campaigns, use of social media and other awareness-raising activities in the local
languages if needed;
Develop pertinent public awareness programmes through active cooperation with
academic and other research institutions;
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Develop close on-going relationships between SAIs and Parliaments in order to support
greater transparency and accountability that will positively influence public trust in
government and in strengthening democracy;
Encourage INTOSAI to work closely with the IPU in support of the efforts to build
greater capacity in parliaments to exercise oversight and carry out their budgetary and
audit functions;
Build good relationships between supreme audit institutions and their stakeholders and
strengthen the bonds with citizens, social organizations, national authorities and analysts to
increase accountability and transparency in the management of public resources;
Develop and implement public relations and communication strategies for active, accurate
and transparent communication with the media, thus building relationships of mutual trust;
Support budget transparency systems and actions that will inform citizens of the entire
budget process including amendments to and the execution of the budget;
Acknowledge existing models of citizen contribution/engagement/participation,
particularly in budgetary processes to improve the lives of citizens. Accordingly encourage
INTOSAI to collaborate with the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and other
organizations including through the joint UN/INTOSAI platform and to consider
participating in the Steward’s Committee of the Multi Stakeholder Initiative coordinated
by the IBP;
Promote citizen participation by developing mechanisms to receive and monitor
complaints for non compliance and maladministration and suggestions for improved public
administration and on services being delivered with the aim of informing future audit focus
areas, scope and risks, and to monitor and provide feedback to citizens, thereby promoting
follow-up of the recommendations of supreme audit institutions;
Commit to contributing to the Rio plus 20 Summit on Climate Change in June 2012 as
invited by the United Nations, through the INTOSAI mechanisms;
Establish with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UNDESA) a joint agenda to build capacities in all countries, including mutual cooperation
and partnership between developed and developing countries, aiming to improve the audit
process, transparency and the eradication of corruption at all levels and poverty as well as
an overall contribution to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs);
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Contribute specifically to the prevention of corruption in line with the spirit of the United
Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC);
Encourage sharing of information and experiences amongst supreme audit institutions
with regard to efficient and effective interactions with citizens including social audits;
Develop INTOSAI guidance on cooperation with citizens through the work programme of
the INTOSAI Working Group on the Value and Benefits of supreme audit institutions.
Such guidance should address terms and conditions to respond to the opportunities as well
as the risks associated with communication with citizens.